Category Archives: Benefits of Healthy Food

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There are three main reasons why the world needs the Feed them Healthy! program:

1. Most important reason: Feed them Healthy! provides real food to the hungry. There are many hungry families and children. In fact, a lot more than the statistics showing that 1 out of every 6 Americans is hungry. Why? Because most Americans are starved for real nutrition. Most are being sustained by empty calories consisting of processed food filled with harmful chemicals, including unhealthy amounts of sugars and high fructose corn syrup. Added to this hodge podge of fake food, now most items from the stores are based on GMO grains or animal products enhanced by growth hormones. Such food does not satisfy hunger. Instead, such food creates obesity and starts the process of diabetes and other chronic diseases.

2. Next: Our process of producing real food rejuvenates the soil. We are growing chemical free grass fed beef using an advanced method of grazing management. It is called ultra-high density grazing management or colloquially as “mob grazing.” This grazing method management method emulates the action of the buffalo herds on the plains. The cattle are placed on distinct plots of land (called paddocks) and moved every day or more often. While in a particular paddock, the beef cattle eat 1/4 to 1/3 of the grass and trample the rest into the soil. The results: There is no overgrazing. The cows are healthier because a brand new pasture paddock loaded with healthy grass awaits them each day. The intensity of the action in each paddock stimulates the soil. The urine and dung fertilizes the soil. The trampled pasture adds vast amounts of organic material to the soil. Then, because there are at least 91 paddocks in the rotation, the pasture grasses have plenty of time to recover and generate new healthy and diverse swards of grass. In the process, the pastures explode with new growth and seeds of diverse grasses (both cool and warm weather grasses) and forbes (otherwise known as weeds) begin to grow and grow rapidly. Then, when one cycle around the segmented pasture is completed, the herd of cattle come through again for their brief one-day or less stay to continue to stimulate the soil, add organic matter and eat the chemical free grass.

Best of all this process restores nutrients to the soils. Earth worms return. Healthy microbes are able to set up housekeeping and rapidly explode in numbers, creating more healthy nutrients. Moreover, this process also stores (or sequesters) vast amounts of carbon, cleaning the air we breathe. And as a result of all of this, the soil captures and stores more of the natural rainfall, in essence making the flourishing ranch land less susceptible to the effects of drought. Many ranchers report that in two or three years of this kind of grazing management, the soil actually becomes spongy. In addition, since the grazing process is managed carefully, at the end of the natural growing season, there are still 3-4 months of edible grass remaining for the cattle. That means the need for expensive tractors and haymaking equipment, not to mention dedicated land for hay growing is obviated. So the whole process is much less expensive to operate. Oh, and I failed to mention that you can raise 2-4 times the number of cattle on any particular pasture area using this method. In sum, more healthy beef raised at lower cost, and in the process preparing the land for full organic vegetable and fruit production.

3. Finally, the cycle is complete as those nourished by real food are much healthier. That of course leads to lower medical costs, higher rates of academic achievement and increased energy and innovation. In a word, a much better society.

Truly grass-fed and chemical free beef and other animal products, including dairy, are extremely healthy. Grass-fed meat products are rich in Omega -3 fatty acids and CLAs. The following chart shows the nutritional content of grass-fed meats. An important measure is the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids. The lower the ratio, the healthier one’s diet.

As can be seen from the table grain-fed beef has a very high ration of Omega 6’s to Omega 3’s, about 31 to 1. In sharp contrast, Grass-fed beef has nearly a 1-1 ratio. The ideal dietary ratio is about 1-1. People who consume the conventional or Standard American Diet (SAD) have essential fatty acid ratio’s in the range of 16-20 to 1. Such high amounts of Omega 6’s in relation to Omega 3’s will only lead to chronic illnesses of all kinds.

If for no other reason, grass-fed beef is an ideal food. Of course, fish and fish oil supplements also provide Omega 3’s. But such sources have other problems. (Heavy metal poisoning for one).

By the way, the assertions about saturated fats in the table above may not be particularly relevant for health, as saturated fats are actually quite good for you, for brain health and for essential mineral absorption. All of these lead to better health, better capacity for educational success, less violence and in sum, a better society.

In summary, the Feed them healthy! program provides crucial nutrition for those who can least afford it, the program rejuvenates the soil, and it creates a healthier and therefore better society.

This is a great video outlining the history and reasons for the “low fat” diet tsunami that has led many to completely reject the use of saturated fats. Unfortunately, as the history and video shows, such dietary advice has been completely counter-productive. Saturated fats from grass fed beef and dairy are actually very good for you and me. That’s why eating grass fed beef is one way to help save the planet, particularly when that beef is raised using intensive grazing management methods that rejuvenate the pasture soils.

The following new trailer from Polyface Farms says it all. The right agricultural management, with symbiotic processes, giving people healthy food to eat will Save the Planet and greatly reduce illness and the incentives for corporate and government tyranny.

I highly recommend watching this. Joel Salitin has been a key influence on the development of Global ResQ’s Feed them Healthy! program. And True Nature Ranches will be operated much as shown in this video to (1) feed healthy food to impoverished hungry families, (2) teach them how to eat better, and (3) give them an opportunity for meaningful work…. And while they are not working or learning about nutrition, we will teach any who are totally or partially illiterate how to read better and think critically.

Won’t you join us? Donate any amount here or shop here to make indirect contributions. And if you can recommend a major individual or corporate sponsorship, see our new Corporate Sponsor brochure here. Whatever you can do will be VERY much appreciated. It is just time to get this started so the Feed them Healthy! message can spread throughout America and the World.

Who are “them”? For purposes of the new project, the term “them” refers to the hungry, the impoverished, and those afflicted by disasters who are in need of immediate, though temporary, sources of nourishment. Thus, them
refers to those who receive assistance from regional and national food banks or who are survivors of disasters. Note that hungry people may, and often does include those who are both living in poverty and have become obese. In fact, there is a great percentage of people living in poverty who are obese precisely because their bodies are starving for real food.

Thus, in the broader sense, “them” refers to everyone. It refers to you
and me, our children, and our neighbors. In fact, our educational
outreach involves informing all Americans of the importance of healthy
nutrition and healthy living. But what is healthy?

Indeed. There is so much confusing information. So many food choices.
Fast foods, restaurant foods, quick serve foods, microwave foods, meats,
vegetables, ice creams, soda pops, and deserts. And so much deception
in the marketplace. In fact, it is hard to know what is healthy without
making learning about such issues a priority. In fact, when most young
adults, and many who are much older, begin to consider healthy
nutrition, they are shocked to discover that most of their favorite
foods are considered unhealthy by experts. “So what can I eat?” is
frequently the first reaction. “Everything is going to kill us in the
end, right?”

Unfortunately, society has gotten to that point. Most food in the
grocery stores has one problem or another. Most processed foods,
anything in cans or boxes, either have chemical additives, or have been
infused with sugars, high fructose corn syrup, or industrial processed
vegetable oils, or all of the above. In fact, in the United States, the
FDA has approved over 3000 chemicals for addition to foods. What is
worse is that most processed foods now contain genetically modified
(GMO) grains, fruits or sugars. And the government is continuing to
approve multiple GMO plants and seeds and has set up legal protections
for Monsanto and others who are developing such crops so they cannot be
sued for any harm caused by their patented products, or by the chemicals
(primarily Roundup or other herbicides and pesticides) that are heavily
applied to such genetically modified plants.

That protection is the same the government has been providing
pharmaceutical companies that develop and produce vaccination serums.

So in essence the government is protecting large corporations to develop
artificial and patented food products and artificial medications, while
at the same time passing laws that have the effect of driving small
farmers and dairymen out of business, those who produce healthy and
natural foods.

As America wakes up to this deplorable situation, key questions come to
mind.

So what is healthy? And who are “them?” Healthy is natural food, grown
organically, without application of dangerous chemicals, and prepared
for consumption without destroying the natural nutrients or adding
harmful substances. Healthy living requires an attitude shift, and a
willingness to learn and make changes to diets, cooking and food preparation, and careful food choices. Them is everyone. You and me.

The big question remains, however. How do we “Feed them Healthy!”? The
answer is straightforward. Start small, educate widely and promote the benefits
of healthy nutrition. Global ResQ is starting small, producing healthy
grass-fed beef and dairy products for regional and local food banks in
ways that rejuvenate the soil, and prepare the soil to grow organic
produce. We teach food recipients how to select and prepare natural
food products that are free of chemical additives, and completely free
of GMO grains, fruits, vegetables or sugars. And we show how most
people can develop their own food production system so they can always
feed themselves healthy. At the same time, we grow the ability to
provide healthy meat and produce on a much wider scale, while joining
with and supporting those who are providing such healthy food on a local
scale, for themselves and their neighbors.

Recently an article from New Zealand featured a talk by Nora Gedgaudas who claimed that grass fed meat could save the planet.* She focused her talk on the nutritional aspects of animal based proteins and fats.

Was Nora right?

Here are some additional insights:

To grass feed cattle from weaning to finishing, on totally organic pastures, requires a high level of hands-on grazing management, preferably using some form of ultra-high density grazing, or mob grazing. Such methods are somewhat more labor intensive in the short-run but they have many advantages. For one thing, such grazing actually restores nutrients to the soil, and adds a significant amount of organic material. In that way, large amounts of carbon are sequestered into the soil. Together, these impacts not only stop desertification, they begin to rebuild topsoil and rejuvenate the soil, prepping it for organic crop production. So proper grass fed grazing eliminates the erosion caused by overgrazing and actually begins to restore the planet to productive health. Moreover, the amount of carbon sequestered by the action of cattle trampling organic material into the soil more than offsets the methane produced by the grazing cattle. The bottom line: modern grass fed cattle grazing stops deserts from forming, rejuvenates the soil and cleans the air of carbon dioxide.

In addition to healing the soil, managing cattle herds in this fashion creates healthy cattle that are no longer dependent on antibiotics and other chemicals added to the pastures. And since such cattle are healthier, they no longer need multiple vaccinations. And reducing the vast quantity of antibiotics used on cattle and other livestock will only reduce the rate at which vaccines lose their effectiveness in treating human pathogens.

Now, with the soil healthier and the animals healthier, the food production is naturally much more healthy for the consumers. In fact, now the grass fed beef raised on organic pastures is completely healthy. Why? For one, the fats, yes the saturated fats, are excellent sources of nutrients. And saturated fats are NOT the cause of heart disease, despite what you may have heard or believed to the contrary. In fact, the original research that led to the widespread canard was completely fraudulent. Look up Ancel Keys and check out the difference in the graph he showed with 7 data points that seemed to show perfect correlation between the quantity of saturated fats consumed and heart disease, and the true graph using all 22 data points that Keys possessed but did not show. Basically, Keys misrepresented his data and the government (FDA) and the processed oil industry began scaring everyone about saturated fats. Yet, it was all a lie.

In addition, grass fed meats are an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids, minerals, vitamins and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA for short), an excellent cancer, diabetes and obesity fighter. Best of all, by basing diets largely on animal fats and organic produce, the cravings for sugars and high fructose corn syrups goes way down. The result, much less obesity, disease, diabetes, cancers and chronic illnesses, and at the same time much greater energy, stamina, mental acuity and overall health.

To sum, the grass fed cattle movement including advanced grazing management techniques, is good for the earth, is great for the health of the animals, and provides superior nutrition for humankind. Ms. Gedgaudas was right. Grass fed cattle can save the planet.

That is all well and good. But what can you do to benefit from these insights? Have you tried shopping for grass fed beef? Do you know any local ranchers who can sell you a quarter of a beef? Do you have the freezer space to store that much?

Those numbers are what is implied by the ratio of donations-to-meals-provided that food banks advertise. Give us a donation of $1 they say and we will feed, respectively, 8, 7 or 5 hungry people. The first is from Feeding America, the leading food bank organization in the United States, the second from a statewide regional food bank in the Feeding America network, and the third from Arvest Bank in their feeding 1 million hungry people program each year. (Note: Arvest Bank is owned by Walmart).

This is both great news and terrible news.

These are great numbers for attracting donations and showing how far charitable donations go toward “helping” those in need. And when families cannot afford to purchase food, or lose their SNAPS (formerly called food stamps) allocations from the government, these gifts of food do satisfy the chronic nagging hunger.

But would you spend so little to feed your family? Could you?

There are two massive problems with this picture. Both are terrible.

The first problem with the food bank system as it exists today is the kinds of foods that are supplied to the hungry. Sure, with $100,000 in United Way donations, a local food bank can supply 500,000-800,000 meals each year. But what kind of food is it and what long-term problems do these donated meals create?

A survey of local food banks, which are largely supplied by a regional food bank, shows that most of the food provided consists of canned food products and processed foods, often cereal and other grain-based products which are processed with various vegetable oils. These foods are often left over and extra food products with expiring dates that have been donated by the large chains and agri-businesses. What isn’t on the shelves are organic foods, fresh vegetables, butter, healthy meats and free range eggs.

In a word, food bank recipients receive the low end of the Standard American Diet food products. And such products are well known to contribute to the epidemic of obesity, diabetes and multiple other chronic diseases. Worse yet, many of these products are well known to contribute to, or directly cause, multiple forms of mental disease and violent behaviors.

So, in essence, the food bank system provides exactly the wrong kinds of foods for people who are often under intense financial and emotional stress. That kind of empty nutrition on top of extreme stress is a recipe for continuing the vicious cycle of poverty and illness.

In America, we should be able to do better than that! I know we can but there is another major problem: socialism, government borrowing, taxes and over regulation that have led to financial decline in America.

I will mention just one indicator: SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called the Food Stamp program that costs taxpayers $78 billion each year. Started in 1969, for most of its existence, this program has provided benefits to about 10% of the population with some minor cycles. But with the Obama administration, the program began to increase rapidly from 9% in 2008 (the year of his election) to 11% in 2009 until in 2012 it had grown by 65% to cover 15% of the population. During the same period, the cost of the program more than doubled (108.4%) from $37.6 billion to over $78.4 billion.

At the same time, the average benefit per person has increased from $102 per month to $133 per month. So a family of 4 would be entitled to $532 worth of SNAP benefits. And among the types of products that qualify for SNAP purchases are soft drinks, candy, cookies, cakes. So a family on SNAP can purchase hundreds of dollars worth of products loaded with sugars, chemicals and carbohydrates laced with processed oils. And they can receive free, the same type of foods from the food banks. All of this, of course, contributes to obesity, as well as to chronic and mental illnesses.

Meanwhile, for those who are willing and able to pay their own way, real unemployment numbers are way up, largely due to the massive government borrowing, the noxious regulatory growth and the increased taxes. And with ObamaCare, the situation will only get much worse. Consequently, the ability of good-hearted Americans to donate and help those in need has will continue to decrease substantially. And the dependency of those in poverty on socialism programs will only deepen. At the same time, the addictions to foods they are permitted to buy and are given free of charge is slowed only by the creeping obesity and resulting chronic medical conditions.

In a word, taxing people more to provide richer socialism benefits is akin to eating more sugar-laced products to curb hunger. Both are leading to very negative consequences of illness, diabetes, obesity, dependency on government handouts, economic collapse affecting all Americans,and multi-generational habits of poverty. This is a true disaster in the making.

There is a better way. Feed them healthy! And provide the means for all recipients to upgrade their nutrition understanding, cooking skills, and intellectual capabilities. It will help make poor people smarter, more emotionally balanced, healthier, and more energetic. In a word, better able to hold a job and start real progress.

5 Reasons the US needs a new Nonprofit focused on “Feed them Healthy.”

30% of children and adolescents in the US are obese or overweight. They are overweight because of sugar, fructose, corn syrup and processed vegetable oils (think chips and most every other processed food)

17-20% of children and adolescents are food insecure. They are eating food largely provided by national and regional food banks, which is, for the most part, completely unhealthy. Here is why:

Food bank food is largely provided by tax-deductible gifts from large grocery chains and food suppliers like ConAgra and Cargill. Thus, most of the food that food insecure kids get are processed and GMO foods, full of sugars, chemical additives, and hydrogenated vegetable oils: exactly the kinds of foods that cause (1) obesity, (2) an increase in violent behavior, (3) an increase in chronic diseases like diabetes, and (4) reduced cognitive abilities.

Therefore stopping hunger and actually helping food insecure families in the US starts with healthy food. Most pitches for donations to the hungry do not fund the purchase or production of healthy food. So we need a new “Feed them Healthy!” nonprofit that is focused on producing and growing absolutely healthy food for the hungry.

But supplies of healthy foods are not enough. The food insecure, and in fact all Americans need to learn what is actually healthy and how to prepare such foods and develop eating habits that will eliminate obesity and unhealthy eating. A new “Feed them Healthy!” nonprofit is needed that will help educate, train, persuade and teach the truth about foods, and how to prepare, enjoy and habitually eat such healthy foods.

Global ResQ is designed to achieve these goals. Originally focused to provide disaster response services, the food disaster in the US calls for new thinking and powerful active measures. When you support Global ResQ you will receive:

A supply of healthy food and meat products with the same health qualities and benefits we supply to the food insecure.

The satisfaction of knowing that hungry children and families are receiving the same quality and quantity of food that you receive.

The satisfaction of knowing that the balance of your donation is funding the development of organic, self-sustaining, farms and ranches that will continue to provide truly healthy food for years and years, coupled with effective training and coaching to create and sustain healthy nutritional life styles.

Everyone has heard that grass-fed beef is better than beef finished in crowded feedlots on grain. There are a variety of reasons. Most have heard that grass-fed beef is better for the cattle, more Omega 3’s, more CLA’s, avoiding GMO’s, etc.

BUT there are 5 additional reasons that are even more important, reasons that may

surprise you and that you may have never considered.

The saturated fats of grass fed beef are an outstanding food source. Yes you read that right. All fat on the grass fed beef is healthy. Our bodies were meant to thrive on diets rich in animal fats and low in carbohydrates.

We live longer when we eat saturated fats that keep our cholesterol levels moderately high. Reducing cholesterol levels artificially is a good way to shorten your lifespan. Worse, while you live, you will have sore joints, tired muscles and lack energy from the side effects of Lipitor or similar drugs.

Eating grass fed beef will make us thinner. Why, because the good fats ingrass fed beef significantly reduce our craving for sugars and carbohydrates. Sugars and Carbohydrates are the mechanisms for increasing insulin and making us fat.

Eating grass fed beef will help you save money and keep you healthy free of a variety of artificially accelerated chronic conditions caused by the vegetable oil industry’s propaganda that created widespread fear of cholesterol. Eating grass fed beef will not clog the arteries and cause heart attacks. What it will do is help you avoid the expense and worry of taking cholesterol lowering drugs that cost $1000s, and lead to double the heart failure rates, cause premature aging, memory loss, depression, cancer and neuropathy.

: Eating the fats from grass fed meat is extremely healthy. You will live longer, you will be more intelligent, you will be more fit and have more energy.

To Feed them Healthy!, Global ResQ is applying for a major grant to establish True Nature Farms and Ranches. These farms and ranches will be managed to advance the charitable purposes in the following ways:

The organic ranches will provide completely healthy, grass fed beef products that provide the right kind of nutritious fats and proteins to people in need.

The ranches will use a grazing method that increases the number of animals that can be raised on a given area. This method is known as ultra-high density (mob) grazing.

The mob grazing management will sequester significant amounts of carbon into the soil.

The mob grazing management method will restore significant amounts of organic material and nutrients to the soil. This in turn creates the following benefits:

Soil nutrients are restored so that future conversions of the land to crop production will yield much healthier produce.

The beef products are healthier because the cattle are raised on the true natural food for cattle. Moreover, the resulting meat will be completely free of any pesticide or herbicide residues.

The pastures begin to hold more water during rain periods making the soils and the ranch operations much less affected by drought conditions.

The livestock are much healthier than livestock confined in feed yards.

The input costs of machinery and feed go to zero as the mob-grazed pastures are managed to provide most if not all feed requirements.

As the mob grazed pastures significantly improve the nutrient and organic content of the soils, after 3-4 years of grazing, soils are ready and a portion of the land will be converted to productive organic produce farming to supply organic vegetables to local food banks.

The healthy meat and produce products for hungry people in poverty and caught up in disasters will provide more than needed food stuffs, the natural benefits of such food will provide nutrition actually needed to improve physical, mental and emotional health.